Rewatch BBAU Rewatch

The direction the show had gone in in the recent modern era pretty much proves that there’s a cap on the amount of buzz production can generate. The rest has to be fan driven and without the live feed it’s almost none existent.
 
Just watching bits of BBAU7 - just the premiere, first double eviction (TJ and Bodie) and Final. It's clear Gretel is over it - the FNL team seem to host most the finale.

The BB7 Pantomime may be the most painful piece of TV I've ever seen - indeed they fill the unexpected half hour when the votes are taking longer than expected better than the couple of hours before. That's the beauty of live TV and the unexpected often is better TV than the planned.

A few good HMs in this bunch but overall a bit older and quite a bit duller duller than the BB6 cast.
 
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Kingston said:
The direction the show had gone in in the recent modern era pretty much proves that there’s a cap on the amount of buzz production can generate. The rest has to be fan driven and without the live feed it’s almost none existent.
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I've always said BB was ahead of its time. If it had appeared after social media like Twitter had launched it would have gone even more ballistic. In the early 2000s we had to rely on websites like BBBA and Jokers Updates but now there are so many outlets to share and participate. BB + Twitter would have been a perfect fit at the start.
 
timmy said:
I've always said BB was ahead of its time. If it had appeared after social media like Twitter had launched it would have gone even more ballistic. In the early 2000s we had to rely on websites like BBBA and Jokers Updates but now there are so many outlets to share and participate. BB + Twitter would have been a perfect fit at the start.
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Nah BB launching at the turn of the millennium was perfect timing and while we didn’t have social media in those days, HD streaming, or in many cases broadband internet things like chat rooms and message boards brought people online in droves. It’s just makes the fact that the show isn’t leveraging advances in technology at all these days.
 
Rewound back to watch a bit more of BB01 now I've found the eps and did the show actually, perhaps inadvertently, create the now familar finale format that BBUSA/Canada use with a jury of 7 questioning two people then casting their vote. This was for intruders but it was almost play for play how the US finals are done, minus the getting them to sing for them.

And they did the dark room task way before BBUSA with the Mastercard Challenge too.
 
timmy said:
I've always said BB was ahead of its time. If it had appeared after social media like Twitter had launched it would have gone even more ballistic. In the early 2000s we had to rely on websites like BBBA and Jokers Updates but now there are so many outlets to share and participate. BB + Twitter would have been a perfect fit at the start.
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If Big Brother launched in the Twitter era, there would have been more ways to participate but I don't think the show would have benefitted from it like Big Brother benefitted from the earlier days of the internet. The people that made and visited BBBA, Joker Updates and all these other sites in the Noughties, are the people that keep the shows going and coming back. None of the independent versions that premiered in the Twitter area were able to establish themselves as a successful show. You have younger franchises that work because they are somewhat spin-offs of established franchises (e.g. the Canadian versions), but all the independent ones were cancelled after one or two seasons.

And I don't think Big Brother would have the community that it has today, if we were all just on Twitter and commenting on the show. I think all the brands and formats that have a similar following have built their followings in the 90s, maybe early 00s. Whereas current times gave people a following. Just have a look at Love Island: I think the way people follow that show, it's a great way for people to launch their career as an influencer. But the show itself doesn't have a community like the Big Brother community. Nobody will miss that show once it's cancelled, because it lacks the community that Big Brother has and that keeps Big Brother alive. And I don't think there will be anything similar in the future.


But to throw in another aspect: One of the beautiful things about Big Brother as a global franchise is that (almost) every country has their own interpretation of the show... and I think it's the only show that some so much variety across all the franchises. Love Island, Got Talent, Idol, I'm a Celebrity.. they all work the same everywhere and very often also look the same. I'm not sure if Big Brother would have been allowed to be so different from international versions if it launched 10 years later. I think they would have just accepted that the format just doesn't work in some countries instead of allowing international adaptions to fix the format.
 
Very much agree on your last point. And it was allowing local producers to do their own thing which certainly helped BBUK and BBAU get off the ground.
 
Brekkie said:
Just watching bits of BBAU7 - just the premiere, first double eviction (TJ and Bodie) and Final. It's clear Gretel is over it - the FNL team seem to host most the finale.

The BB7 Pantomime may be the most painful piece of TV I've ever seen - indeed they fill the unexpected half hour when the votes are taking longer than expected better than the couple of hours before. That's the beauty of live TV and the unexpected often is better TV than the planned.

A few good HMs in this bunch but overall a bit older and quite a bit duller duller than the BB6 cast.
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Yeah the 07 guys in particular were very boring. Zach did really amazing to bond with that group TBH because pretty much every other intruder that season didn't really fully fit in and disliked quite a lot of the people which was interesting
 
Just watched the 2001 preview show and post series follow up Secrets show, available on YouTube.

The first uses BBUK graphics and bits of footage and features mainly the auditions, with BB2's Kieran featuring quite heavily. A little bit on the building of the house too.

The Secrets episode a bit more interesting in terms of how production came together.
 
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Brekkie said:
Just watched the 2001 preview show and post series follow up Secrets show, available on YouTube.

The first uses BBUK graphics and dippers of footage and features mainly the auditions, with BB2's Kieran featuring quite heavily. A little bit on the building of the house too.

The Secrets episode a bit more interesting in terms of how production came together.
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I think 2002 had an entire episode preview based on the casting call auditions process as well IIRC. It was still in that era of production values (that I mentioned before) of shows like Australian Popstars, Australian The Mole etc which also had a bit of I guess more 'casual' feeling Audition footage, and behind the scenes apart from the parts where they're stood in front of the Judges which shows like Australian Idol then rolled on with and evolved to be a little bit more polished, and then X-Factor, Got Talent et al adapted them into live audience auditions etc.

Jess Hardy (BB2) before Big Brother did try out for and featured in one of the earlier seasons on The Mole, being cut before reaching the final 10 or whatever contestants for the actual game section of the show.
 
This is a random question but does anyone know why Tamara (BB03 who didn't go in because the male police guy pulled out the night before the show was starting and they wanted an even number of housemates for some reason) wasn't just 'released' back into the world and then invited to be an intruder later on in the season or perhaps even a starting housemate in 04 rather than go through the premiere with all the other housemates and then having to lie about why she didn't go in later? Always seemed rather odd to me.
 
Hunter's_Mckay said:
This is a random question but does anyone know why Tamara (BB03 who didn't go in because the male police guy pulled out the night before the show was starting and they wanted an even number of housemates for some reason) wasn't just 'released' back into the world and then invited to be an intruder later on in the season or perhaps even a starting housemate in 04 rather than go through the premiere with all the other housemates and then having to lie about why she didn't go in later? Always seemed rather odd to me.
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Does anyone know why the policeman pulled out with such short notice?
 
Hunter's_Mckay said:
This is a random question but does anyone know why Tamara (BB03 who didn't go in because the male police guy pulled out the night before the show was starting and they wanted an even number of housemates for some reason) wasn't just 'released' back into the world and then invited to be an intruder later on in the season or perhaps even a starting housemate in 04 rather than go through the premiere with all the other housemates and then having to lie about why she didn't go in later? Always seemed rather odd to me.
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She was interviewed by Gretel on one of those first week specials they had like a chat show with former housemates, Carmel Hill etc. Pushing the narrative of she was planned to be a Decoy all along.

She said they called her up and told her unfortunately you didn't make the cut but we'd still like you to come and be on the Launch show anyway. It is strange that they went to those lengths and she wasnt first choice for Intruder but there you have it. But it also is strange then that If she was always planned that way and Brett DIDNT pull out, It would've been 15 housemates and uneven, so... hmm.
Gayspie said:
Does anyone know why the policeman pulled out with such short notice?
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According to this linked article: ( https://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/big-brothers-men-in-blue-20030429-gdvme8.html) on wikipedia from The Age, it was apparently because he was still a serving cop and the Police Commissioner thought it was an 'unprofessional' look for him to appear on BB. That was the difference bewteen him and Ben, who at the time had already resigned from the force and had an incident in the then recent past that was a non-conviction and producers said wasnt a factor in their decision to cast him.
 
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